Reviews by guineatech

Dark Cornish have been a great addition to our backyard flock. All of them eagerly rustle their own food, foraging widely through brush and field, spending little time at the feeder. Birds are broad backed, with their sturdy legs widely spaced. Comb and wattle development is minimal, which may cost it some ability to dissipate heat in the summer, but by the same token, will reduce heat losses and vulnerability to frost bite in winter. The overall appearance of these birds, especially the males, is more of a wild-type bird, with a bold eye, strong brows, tight-fitting, glossy feathers, and a more stout beak than most domestic fowl. Despite this rather tough looking face, these birds are docile, quiet, and accept human handling fairly well. The tight feathering makes the bird look smaller than it is...mine weigh as much or more than the Rocks and RIR's in the same flock, but at first glance, they look more compact. They seem to be more intelligent than the average chicken, learning a new routine or accepting training well.

Crossing this bird with the Plymouth Rock breeds produces a fast-growing meat bird that is excellent table fare. This cross is the same one used in the broiler industry, but don't expect your home crosses to grow as fast as commercially produced cornish rocks---those are produced by breeding companies investing fortunes selecting sire and dam lines and producing their final cross. We have our Dark Cornish running with White Rocks and Welsummers and some crossbred hens, and we are getting some VERY robust chicks this year!

Hens came into lay around 20 weeks, comparable to other heavy breeds. Egg production is acceptable, with hens laying a medium sized, firm-shelled brown egg. Hens eagerly go broody, successfully setting even large clutches of eggs and raising chicks very well. Egg production levels are not going to compare to traditional brown egg layers such as the Rhode Island Red or Plymouth Rocks, but when you add in the contribution this bird can make toward meat bird genetics, plus the chicks the hens will raise for you, they are definitely a worthy addition to the flock.

Note: I edited the original breed description that was listed. It stated that the birds were vulnerable to cold, are poor layers, and that the tight feathers make it hard for a hen to cover many eggs. These statements are simply not born out by the realities of raising this breed. I have seen no sign they are having more trouble with the cold than other birds...to the contrary, in fact. Egg production is moderate, not poor, with production maybe 140-180 eggs per year (a Maran or Rock will give you 200+, a leghorn 250+). When you consider that a chunk of that year was spent setting and brooding rather than laying, this production is not so bad. And my hens have hatched 10 of 11 eggs, 8 of 10 eggs, 7 of 8 eggs, and 3 of 10 eggs this year (that last one, hatch rate was low because I put a thin-shelled egg from an older bird in the nest, it broke, and yolks covered most of the eggs). Keep in mind that these eggs are hand-selected to be the larger eggs (selecting for egg size), so these hens are successfully setting 10-12 large -xl eggs. This is as good a hatch rate as any hens we have had, and these hens are absolutey dedicated mothers.

Overall ths is an excellent breed. I will always keep their genetics in my flocks!

My Welsummers have been a great addition to the flock. We were trying to add darker egg color to the flock, so we kept a rooster for breeding. He is the most docile rooster we have ever had. He's quiet, and is a gentle breeder, doing the job without a lot of fuss or roughness. Hens are calm and quiet but avoid human contact.

The hens are productive, coming into production at around 20 weeks, like most of the heavies we have raised. They free range well, actively foraging through the brush and fields, with their neutral colors giving them a natural camouflage. They don't spend much time at the feeder. The hens do seem to seek out privacy for nesting, but for the most part they are using the nest boxes. Egg are large to x-large, dark brown, and firm shelled. Fertility has been excellent.

I can't offer any info on table qualities....we haven't processed any of these.

My experience is limited on this breed. Five chicks purchased from a hatchery a year ago. We free-range, with chickens closed into a pen at night. Ad lib layer pellets. 15 hour light regimen is maintained year round.

I would not hesitate to get more Welsummers, and make sure to stuff a couple of Welsummer eggs under every hen who goes broody.

We had Black Jersey Giants. One became our flock rooster for a couple of years. He was huge and beautiful, with solid black eyes, iridescent plumage, and a very upright "proper" stance. We could pick him up and carry him around, and he wouldn't fuss, yet we have had him jump on a hawk that had one of his hens pinned down. Harvey was our favorite chicken ever, and was only let go because so many in the flock were his offspring. Harvey moved to a nearby farm where he is still going strong, despite being 5 years old!

Very large birds that grow a bit more slowly than the other heavy fowl. Extremely docile. Hens did go broody for us some, and laid reasonably well year round. Eggs were usually large and x-lrge. They were quiet birds for the most part, and not aggressive with other members in the flock. Easy to make these into pets. They faired well in free range life, foraging well and not being plagued with any health issues. Seemed undisturbed by heat and cold. The docile temperament is evident even in crossbred offspring.

Crossbred chicks from Jersey Giant crosses have grown very fast and reached processing weights much faster than did the purebred. Carcass of the purebred is acceptable, and they picked surprisingly clean for a black-feathered breed.

A good homestead bird, but not a steadfast producer like the plymouth rock or rhode island red.

We have raised white leghorns, single-comb brown leghorns, California Whites (3/4 leghorn, 1/4 barred rock), and various crossbred offspring from leghorns.

Leghorns have the best egg production of all, coming into lay at 18-22 weeks (free range), and quickly moving away from pullet-sized eggs to producing large and x-lge white eggs. It was unusual for a hen to skip laying more than a few days a month. Shells have weaker membranes than those of brown egg layers, and hens can deplete calcium stores and start with the occassional thin-shelled egg. They don't go broody. They might fly up into trees to roost in summer if given a chance. Their ability to get up high can allow them to get into everything and make a mess. Molts are usually fast with a quick return to production.

Carcass quality is poor. This is a thinly muscled bird who pours all of its energy into eggs, but the spent hen is still ok as a stew bird. Young roosters make for rather scrawny pieces of fried chicken. Cockerels are not the best choice for meat production, as their feed efficiency is much poorer than traditional meat breeds.

Legs are thin with dainty toes. California Whites, with their additional Plymouth Rock genetics, can be sturdier and did better foraging than purebred leghorns.

Brown leghorns and California Whites were not as crazy as the whites, were quieter, and had better longevity.

First generation crossbreds produced by my leghorn hens are always nutty. They tend to be wild, off-the-chart hysterical. This seems to get diluted after a couple generations.

All of the purebreds have been flighty and very easily frightened. This can cause eggs to get cracked when a panicked hen explodes from a nest. Their hyper response to everything can upset the other birds that would otherwise be calm.

Not my first choice for a homestead bird, but if you want white eggs, they are hard to beat.

I got my Light Brahmas from fertile eggs bought online. Hens and roosters both were beautiful, soft-feathered, and extremely docile. They make great pets as chickens go. Egg production was so-so, with the hens laying medium to large eggs year round, but skipping lots of days. Roosters showed no aggression. Females accepted lots of matings and ended up bare-backed (3 roosters to 35 hens), but were not bottom of the pecking order. They faired well free-ranging, and didn't visit the feeder very often. No trouble with soft-shelled eggs despite hens reaching over 2 years old.

Hens went broody quite a bit, with 1 or the other setting eggs every year. They were good mommas, raising the entire brood without trouble. The thick, soft feathers allowed hens to cover lots of eggs and later to brood lots of chicks, even in the damp of late April.

Carcasses were very good, especially when young, being almost as good a quality as that of the Buff Orpington. Meat is moist and tender. Even spent hens had respectable amounts of meat that was not as tough as you might expect from a free-roaming 3 year hen.

The biggest drawback for us was the presence of feathers on the feet and legs. Our area is very humid, and our flock spends lots of time foraging in harvested crop fields. The Light Brahmas ended up carrying a load of mud on their legs during wet weather. However, it never seemed to present a problem for the hens...it just bothered me. Years later, we still have LB genetics in the flock, seen as bits of leg feathering in the crossbred descendents. Those birds are usually fast-growing, docile, and friendly, definitely genetics worth keeping in the flock.

Black Stars have been the highest producing hens in our homestead flock, with the exception of leghorns and leghorn crosses. No other brown-egg layer has been as productive for us, with Barred Rocks probably taking second place. Eggs quickly get past the "pullet egg" size, and move through large to x-lrge and jumbo. Hens are large, with massive crops, stout legs and strong feet. They take very well to free-ranging, energetically rustling for their own feed, but they are not averse to gorging at the feeder. A mixed bag of personalities, some high in the pecking order, and some on the bottom, but all docile and interactive with humans. Hens laid year round (15 hour light regimen), and most of the time would lay where they were supposed to. The birds were alert to predators, and have good coloring to avoid detection. As hens reached their 1st birthday, it wasn't uncommon to see the occasional soft-shelled egg, not unusual for a bird with such high production. (These birds have free choice access to calcium). Molting speed varied.

Hens went broody and raised chicks for us more than any other breed or breed cross we have had. This was rather ironic, since we were told the BS's were commercial-level brown egg layers, and did not go broody. Even more ironic was that we were raising Buff Orpingtons at the same time, a breed known for broodiness, and not one BO went broody! BS's, being large birds, can cover a lot of eggs (one hen hatched 12 eggs).

BS carcasses were fat, with a decent amount of meat (more so than the purebreds in the flock). Hens seemed to break down early though, with several becoming internal layers and others dropping production level as they became very fat. Perhaps these birds do not do well on free choice feed? Or maybe high production burns them out earlier.

For me, the biggest negative with Black Stars was the noise. Hens are extremely vocal at laying time, with loud, penetrating squawks and clucks before and after laying. It was annoying enough that once we culled them all out, we have not gotten any more. A hen house and nest boxes well away from the house would make it less of a problem.

Black Australorps were added to our flock to increase the likelihood of broodiness. Hens were decent foragers in our free range operation, laid large eggs with decent rate of lay year round. Barred Rocks, RIR's, and Black Stars easily outpaced them on egg production and egg size, but hens are good, steady producers. Very docile hens are rather low on the pecking order and accept lots of matings, so many had bald backs (sex ratio 3 males:35 hens). Beautiful iridescent black plumage, reasonably strong feet and legs, respectable foraging ability.

Hens were the second best at hatching and raising chicks, outdone only by the Black Stars. One hen raised two clutches of chicks in one year. Productive life was acceptable, around 2 years, at which time the hens starting piling on the fat and egg production dropped. One became an internal layer. Molting speed was moderate, and return to production didn't take too long.

Hens seemed more vulnerable to predation (slow?, less alert?) and got picked off by hawks/eagles/dogs.

The plymouth rock is a wonderful choice for the homestead flock. With strong feet and legs and an alert demeanor, these birds are excellent foragers, rustling as much as 90% of their own feed during late Spring and Summer. Egg production is year round and consistent. Most hens went through a fast molt, dropping handfuls of feathers in a day and returning to production quickly. Eggs are firm-shelled, large to jumbo in size, with very good quality. Hens normally are very good about using nest boxes, but they do occasionally sneak off to the brush to lay their eggs. Some birds would take to the trees, but most were too heavy to easily reach a roost in a tree/rafters.

No hens went broody for us, though barred rock crossbred hens would set eggs. Most of the Plymouth Rock strains are conveniently camouflaged, lessening problems with predators. Older hens spent more time at the feeder and tended to lay on the fat, with most of our old hens being culled before their 3rd birdthday.

Carcasses are about average compared with purebred yard chickens. Crossbred stock with a Plymouth Rock parent produced fast growing cockerels who would reach slaughter weight weeks sooner than purebred cousins.

Ameracaunas (not rumpless) were added to our flock for the novelty and to evaluate production relative to the standard homestead breeds. The hens were docile, moderately vocal, and a bit jumpy. They laid medium to large eggs (mostly medium), with poor winter production and the lowest rate of lay in the flock. Hens would normally lay a couple of days, then skip a day.

These birds did a decent job rustling their own feed free range and showed no aggression (we had only females though). The hens were prone to hunting out their own nest sites, like brush piles and under the lawn mower, and they also would readily abandon the pen in favor of roosting in trees during the summer.

No trouble with thin eggshells. Molts were slow. No hens went broody in the 3 years we kept them.

Our flock is free-ranged, kept up at night, on a 15 hour light regimen, and allowed free choice layer pellets.

This breed is the mainstay of our free-range homestead flock. These birds forage very well for their own feed, with strong feet and legs. They are alert but calm, reasonably quiet at laying time, and dependably lay good-sized eggs year round (our flock is on a 15 hour light regime to maintain production). Most hens accomplished their molt with great speed, going practically bald before rapidly replacing feathers and returning to production. We have had very few predator problems with these birds, as their color is inconspicuous, and they are alert. Productive life was very good, with most lasting a full 2.5 years before production started to slack off, with some lasting to the 3.5 year mark. We actually still have one hen in production from our first batch---she's 4! These girls were good about laying in nest boxes, and did not have issues with weak shells. It was rare for one to rebel and take the trees rather than their roost poles. Carcasses were average for yard chickens, with time to slaughter weight being about the same as other purebred yard birds (crossbreds are a much better choice for meat production IMO).

None of the RIR's ever went broody.

All RIR roosters that we tried to keep for breeders turned very mean and nasty before reaching 18 mos.

Overall, this breed is well worth adding to a homestead flock.

My experience with Buff Orpingtons was a mixed bag. The hens were very calm, quiet at laying time, and did a decent job hustling their own feed (free range). Being so docile does make them low on the pecking order, and they are very receptive to repeated breedings, so they end up with bald backs (rooster to hen ratio was 3:35). Their production was average in the flock, with the black stars, barred rocks, and rhode island reds out-laying them, and the BS and BR's producing larger eggs.

The primary reason we added the BO's to the flock was to get natural, broody hens who would hatch eggs for us, and it was a bonus that the breed is known for its good temperament. We were disappointed to see that in 3 years, none of the 12 hens went broody even once...they had no interest in hatching any eggs. And two of the cockerels we kept back as relacements were unpredictable as to temperament. One we had to cull when he took to launching sneak attacks on any men on the place. Overall, the BO's just could not justify a place in my homestead flock. We had far better production, as well as the most broody hens, from our black star girls, with the black australorp a close runner up.